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No problem. If you guys start getting serious, I'm putting together a project to give amateur artists and coders the chance to begin building a portfolio as they work to break into the gaming industry. PM me your email address if you'd like more information.

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Ive used alot of 3D modeling applications. I find Blender to be the best before even factoring in cost. The reason is the way they do things makes the modeling workflow faster. Alot faster. Its also alot cleaner a modeling app compared to something like Maya. If you are working in a game development workflow, Blender has alot of great tools for getting a model from Blender into the game and look exactly the same. Finally, there are features in Blender not present in alternatives that really put it over the top, like a sculpting workflow. The real issue people have is adjusting to the UI, but its really a difference in getting rid of old habits and not about poor UI design decisions. It took me some time to get readjusted to the workflow, but once I did I got significantly faster.

If you are sculpting I would avoid ZBrush like the plague. Its a terrible program that has some how become the standard. 3D Coat and Mudbox use much more familiar tools, can get greater depth, are more stable, and have better retopology tools. To me it makes no sense to learn ZBrush for a sub-par experience.

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So yah...My friends and I want to learn to make 3d stuff n stuff and we were thinking that we could just pitch in to get something so..

Which program do you guys think would be good to learn? 3dsmax or maya? Or lightwave?

Edit : These arent my ideas as I know close to nothing about art -.- I cant even draw ffs!

Start out focusing on one or the other. You'll have a hard time being good at either if you try and learn both simultaneously.

For animation (i'm assuming you're talking mostly character animation / traditional 3d animation) learn maya, absolutely 100% for your first program. It has a bit of a learning curve but is somewhat of industry standard when it comes to 3d animation. Also if you can use maya to a professional level, learning other 3d programs will be easy by comparison.

For modelling, you need to figure out what kind of modelling you are talking about. If you are thinking about doing characters / creatures, be prepared for a long road ahead of you. It's a lot of work, and you need to make sure your traditional art skills are up to snuff as well. For this type of modelling I highly recommend learning a sculpting program (Z-Brush, Mudbox primarily). They are the standards for character modelling. Start with the basics, start simple and work your way up to complex. Get in the happen of making clean / organized models, and triple check your topology. If your meshes are a mess they create all sorts of problems down the line.

If you're trying to do more hard modelling (machines, cars, environments, etc.) I'd suggest going w/ Maya as a start.

- If you're thinking about doing more simulated animations (particles / fluids / etc.) then that gets a bit tougher. And requires a pretty large knowledge pool to be effective in. In this case if you're just looking for something to get quick results in, try FumeFX (which is a plugin for 3d studio max).

***** As for you? and you're friend, why are you trying to learn these things? Are you doing this as a hobby, or are you thinking about doing these things seriously?

If you're doing this as a hobby, almost any 3d program you could just pick up and start working with. If you're looking for the easiest programs to pick up, that would probably have to go to either Blender or Modo. Imho, if you're going that route Modo would make more sense. If you want to get more professional results, read my comments above.

If you're serious about this, I can't emphasize enough that you should hone you're art skills. If you don't have at least decent art fundamentals, then learning this stuff will prove a huge waste of time. Understanding basic things like proportions, lightning, and a basic understand of movement are huge if you want to get even mildly good results. One of my degrees is in this area, and they don't even let people into the program without demonstrating strong art fundamentals. There's a reason for that. It's a lot of work, but if you're serious about this, then just pick it up and keep at it. You'll only get better with practice.

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The tools used can limit your employment prospects. For instance a Blender user like me who prefers it over Maya or Max. I will be looked down upon from some studios as a lesser artist or hobbyist. This is mainly from Senior Artists who have only used Max or Maya, and don't put the time into using another program like Blender. On the other hand there is a section of studios that Blender is a HUGE positive since they won't need to buy a $3k software package. Then there are large studios that are open to using anything.

There is also a similar idea with ZBrush. Other ones like MudBox, 3D Coat, or Blender might not be approvable under the scrutiny of a senior artist who only uses Maya and ZBrush.